


Trust In Me

by Skye_Willows



Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: Anxiety, Anxious!Nines, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Friends to Lovers, Gavin Reed Not Being an Asshole, Ken Doll!Nines, M/M, Naked Cuddling, Non-Sexual Intimacy, Referenced Violence/Severe Injury, Relationship Development, Slice of Life, Soft Boys Learning How To Live And Love, discussions of therapy, sexual discussions
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-22
Updated: 2020-03-22
Packaged: 2021-03-01 01:49:14
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,367
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23267251
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Skye_Willows/pseuds/Skye_Willows
Summary: Sometimes first impressions are a million miles from reality.Gavin decides that he is going to chip away at Nines' wall of ice to discover the real android beneath, no matter how hard the journey is along the way.
Relationships: Upgraded Connor | RK900/Gavin Reed
Comments: 3
Kudos: 124





	Trust In Me

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys! So this little fic came into being after a day of my own anxiety striking badly, and my husband coming to my rescue. I feel bad for projecting onto Nines so much, but I love these two being soft. So here we go!
> 
> Enjoy!

It was funny how your perception of someone could flip in an instant.

Something that was instilled in the police academy was not to jump to conclusions, as theories from evidence could be driven according to pre-existing bias - though anyone both inside and outside the force would tell you that just doesn’t happen. Officers were only human after all and there was no escaping a first impression – but there were often connections that could be made quickly.

Like when a spouse suddenly has a payday on a life insurance policy right before an imminent divorce. It was frightening how often those circumstances ended up with the surviving half indicted for having a role in the other person’s death, but there were always the other cases: sheer accident, someone felt that they couldn’t go on without their once life partner or even the more sinister scenario of attempting to frame their soon to be ex-spouse.

The point was that you couldn’t cling to your first impression. If you always did, it would sometimes blind you to the even more startling truth.

Gavin wouldn’t willingly admit that he could be immensely guilty of this. One redeeming fact to this flaw was that he was a great judge of character 85-90% of the time. As a general rule it cost nothing, so it wasn’t anything the he needed to address or try to change.

Until Nines, anyway.

His first impression of the android was that he was an asshole, and it was one that was shared by most of the precinct. Almost no-one made a point seeking him out for conversation, not when they received mostly clipped and abrupt answers, but there were a few brave souls who talked to him. Connor, Anderson, Chris (that was one that Gavin didn’t understand since Chris was such a nice guy, what could he have in common with Mr Icy Bastard?)…

But there was something highly unusual about Nines, in that he wasn’t a full time member of the team.

The official line was that he split his time between other android activities while helping the precinct when time allowed but Gavin didn’t buy that crap. He couldn’t see Nines being a devout follower of Jericho’s ways when he’d overheard the RK900 once ask Connor what he saw in all the ‘political crap’ that Markus was undertaking.

So, something else was going on with him. There was no way that Fowler would ever say anything, so Gavin had decided to do a little investigation into the android who, it was rumoured, was about to be his full-time partner.

_Over his dead body._

It took almost three months for Gavin to finally get the slightest hint of a clue, and it came from Chris of all people speaking to Connor in the break room one day.

“Chris, do you know anything about assisting people with severe anxiety?” Connor had asked. Gavin only half listened in to start with (nosy bastard that he was), but it picked up after Connor’s answer.

“Medication isn’t an option I’m afraid. They are an android and any prescriptive drugs would have no effect.”

_An android with severe anxiety? Didn’t think that was a thing._

Now Gavin was more curious and he deliberately slowed down on making his coffee, even going so far as to pull out a second cup to make Tina something too in an effort to buy more time for eavesdropping.

“Huh, well…my sister-in-law suffers bad from anxiety and she’s allergic to almost all medicine,” Chris mused. “Maybe I could ask my wife to give it a shot. Biggest thing about anxiety though is the trust barrier, letting someone in close enough to try and **let** them help it a big issue. This won’t be a quick fix.”

When no name was forthcoming Gavin had taken his leave, but he started keeping an ear out for anything else.

And then Chris started spending more and more of his breaks with Nines.

Gavin kept glancing from his desk over at the pair in the break room each time it happened, watching Nines’ cold exterior melt a little as the android spoke up more, which was when it then struck Gavin like a bolt of lightning.

Nines wasn’t cold to everyone because he was explicitly an ass, it was because he was scared to let anyone in that close.

For some reason that revelation struck Gavin deeply and he began to watch the android more, even starting to seek him out. He couldn’t say that all of it was out of the goodness of his heart, but it there was a sort of allure to Nines now. Almost like a puzzle box, Gavin wanted to work out who it was that lay beneath all of the layers of ice, plastic and wires. It might have taken him a while to get with the program, but he knew that androids really were their own person now.

Fowler pulled Gavin into his office a month after that realisation – Gavin didn’t whinge once when he walked out again with Nines as his new partner.

* * *

It had taken some time, but Gavin was finally getting there with peeling away the walls that Nines had erected around himself. Chris hadn’t been kidding when he’d said to Connor that trust was going to be a major hurdle.

Nines would barely talk beyond anything case related for two months, seemingly determined to keep his relationship with Gavin at a purely professional level. That was fine, that level of detachment Gavin could take if it meant getting more time to study the android and learn about him. The first sign of anything thawing was after a chase gone wrong.

A perp had punched Gavin clean unconscious and tossed him into the river. Gavin didn’t even remember the punch, he flashed from grappling with the guy to waking up in the hospital four days after it, one near-death experience later. Hank was the one that eventually told Gavin that their suspect had escaped after Nines dove into the river after Gavin, not taking the chance with his life. It was just as well because Gavin wouldn’t have survived in the winter waters had Nines hesitated, he’d have been swept away.

So when the android appeared into his hospital room after half an hour, Gavin wasn’t willing to wait around any longer.

“Thanks, Nines,” he said hoarsely, his voice struggling after days of disuse. “You saved my ass.”

The android looked at him inquisitively and nodded reservedly. “You’re welcome, Detective, but I was simply doing my job. My partner’s life was in danger and I reacted.”

“Cut the crap, we both know that water was cold enough to damager your biocomponents. Anderson’s already told me that you had to get three replaced after hauling my dead weight out of that river.” Nines didn’t react beyond his eyes softening a little, which Gavin took as progress. “Thank you, I mean that.”

Nines eventually accepted Gavin’s gratitude, to which the human sighed. “Fuck, guess I’m off for two weeks for psych evals. Don’t even remember anything, so I don’t know how useful this shit’s gonna be.”

“Therapy has been proved to-”

“I know that therapy helps with psychological trauma, Nines, I’ve used it after a lot of crap before. I meant that I dunno if it’ll help this time since, you know, I don’t remember jack shit,” Gavin interrupted, curious as to Nines’ surprised look.

“You’ve used therapy before? I didn’t expect that,” Nines admitted, to which Gavin chuckled.

“Trust me, I bitched about it endlessly the first time I was mandated to go. Got shot with a vest that failed, nearly bled out. Wasn’t allowed back in the field for three months after complications with surgery so I had lots of time to ‘process’. Took until I was threatened to be benched as I hadn’t completed the evaluation before I finally sucked it up.” Gavin smiled whimsically. “Ended up talking to the guy for three years after it. Helped to deal with all of the crap we see day in, day out.”

Spying that Nines was deep in thought, Gavin sat up a little and looked at him seriously. “Why don’t you give it a shot? You’ve been through the ringer with this too.”

“Androids don’t require therapy, Gavin,” Nines replied in a tone that Gavin would swear was defensive. “It would serve no purpose for us as our brains are not chemically based, we record and then it is stored. For anything we wish not to remember, it can simply be deleted.”

“Okay, fine, so you wouldn’t remember but would the emotions leave? Whatever you’ve got bottled up inside wouldn’t vanish would it?” That time Nines did stop to think, which was when Gavin decided to offer out a hand. “Come on, let’s both go. We both need to have a space to process and not be stuck with our own thoughts.”

The choice of words was far from random but Nines didn’t know that. He just shook the offered hand in agreement and that was that.

After three months of therapy, Nines started to act more relaxed around the precinct, which improved his relationships with everyone there. Another month after that, he finally took up a full-time post at the precinct.

It was only two weeks after that when Gavin was finally faced with the full reality of what it was that Nines suffered from on a daily basis.

Fowler had always said that Nines was never on a fixed rota because it was dependant on his workload with the android movement but when Nines didn’t turn up one morning Gavin had a sinking feeling as to what the truth was. He marched into Fowler’s office to confront him, to which the Captain sighed and gave Gavin the day off to help his partner. Twenty minutes later Gavin was at Nines’ address, complete with a key that he’d acquired from Chris after speaking with the officer as to what he was about to do.

Gavin let himself in and almost had a heart attack when he saw the red hue which was overtaking the whole room. It was startlingly bright, but it only took a few seconds for Gavin to realise why when he saw Nines sitting upright on his sofa, a large wire connected via his neck port. Upon making that connection he raced over, wondering what could have the android in such turmoil only to find that Nines was wide awake and crying silently.

The android didn’t meet Gavin’s eyes, only closed his own in shame and hung his head more. “Why are you here, Gavin?” he asked morosely, to which Gavin knelt down in front of him and looked at Nines as openly as he could.

“Was worried about you – persuaded Fowler to let me come here and check up on you,” Gavin answered softly but Nines wasn’t responding. The detective reached out and placed a gentle hand upon Nines’ own, to which the android flew back in fear. That wasn’t the reaction Gavin expected and he held his hands up in surrender. “Shit, sorry! Sorry, sorry…I just-I wanted to help calm you down is all, I didn’t mean to make you even more frightened.”

“I’m not frightened,” Nines tried to argue, but Gavin sighed and shook his head.

“Nines, you’re crying in your own living room and your LED’s gone blood red. You didn’t come to work and you just jumped back like I’d burned you after reaching out for your hand. You’ve got anxiety,” he said plainly, to which Nines’ body slumped.

“I apologise, Detective, I never meant for this to inhibit my work,” he said sullenly, to which Gavin shook his head.

“Nuh-uh, don’t you dare say sorry for this. You’re not bunking off doing fuck knows what, this is a genuine mental health issue and I’m never gonna judge anyone for that,” Gavin told Nines sternly. The android looked at him in surprise, to which Gavin raised an eyebrow. “What? I know I can come across as a major asshole but I’m well aware that people can’t control their mental health. If they need to step away from the world for a while and take some time for them, then that’s what they’ve got to do.”

“Only…this isn’t a one-time occurrence, Gavin,” Nines admitted shamefully. “This-This is a regular thing. I often have days where I feel like I can’t face going beyond my front door.”

Gavin pushed himself up from the floor and sat next to Nines, being mindful of keeping some distance between himself and the android to not scare him again. After contemplating what he was going to say, he finally decided the truth was the best option. “I’ve kinda known for a while, overheard Chris and Connor one day when Connor was asking if Chris knew of anything about helping someone with anxiety. That was right around the time you started talking with him more.”

Nines’ LED finally shifted from red to yellow and the intensity dulled slightly. At least Gavin was sitting on the other side from it so he wasn’t blinded by the light emitted. “You…you knew about me before we became partners?” he asked, stunned. “You knew that I could be a liability and still agreed?”

“Whoever said anything about this being a liability?” Gavin accused with a raised eyebrow. “There’s nothing wrong with you in having anxiety, Nines, it’s just something we have to understand. If we can help you learn why it’s happening, then maybe one day you hopefully won’t be so anxious anymore.”

“We?”

Gavin realised that Nines was still struggling to accept that he **wanted** to help. In all honesty Gavin was a little surprised himself at how strongly he felt about it but that wasn’t something to dwell on now, so gave the android the softest smile of reassurance he could. “Yeah, we. You’re not alone in learning how to cope with this, Nines. I’m gonna help you.”

Nines nodded in acceptance, which Gavin took as a small victory. He’d finally broken past that first trust-related barrier: now he just had to help Nines with collapsing the rest.

* * *

Everything else slowly came together over the following months. Nines opened up to Gavin about his struggles with being a deviant, and how he was adamant that CyberLife still had a hold on him. He was designed to be a soldier, to maim and kill, not to mention CyberLife sank so many resources into making sure that the RK900 line couldn’t deviate. Part of Nines was terrified that it was all a ruse, that one day he’d let his guard down enough and CyberLife would take control of him once more.

Gavin cursed when he realised that Nines’ fears meant that he’d not gone into stasis once since developing his anxiety. It explained why he so often found Nines hooked up to an external power unit via the cable in his neck, he wasn’t letting himself recharge via his intended processes. What that also meant, however, was that Nines never got a break from his fears. Every single minute of every day he was awake, it was like living with insomnia.

To start with, Fowler allowed Gavin leave to help Nines whenever the android had a bad day so long as they didn’t have a major case going. That was a good start as it meant that Nines spent less and less time alone, but it also meant the pair’s relationship slowly changed.

There was more gentle moments between them, quiet discussions which finally revealed why Nines was so scared of anyone touching him beyond a simple handshake. “I despise what I am, what I was made to be,” he admitted one afternoon following two movies, one of which was Bicentennial Man. Seeing how a robot who lived for two hundred years struggled with his own sentience had struck a real chord with Nines. Gavin would never admit to having picked it out especially for that reason after seeing that Nines was having a mildly bad day, rather than a waking nightmare of one.

The detective shuffled around so that he was facing Nines on the sofa, legs pulled up to give the android his full attention. “Why? You’re not who CyberLife designed you to be, you’re your own person,” he pointed out, to which Nines glared at his own hands.

“Perhaps, but that will never change what I was meant to be; what I could be should I ever lose myself. I worry for how much carnage I would cause before someone found a way to stop me,” the android argued, his icy stare focusing harder as he peeled back his synthskin to stare hatefully at the plastic beneath.

Gavin wasn’t sure what to say to that, so he instead reached out to hover a hand over Nines’ arm. The RK900 didn’t flinch away, that was something he’d grown better about as time went on, but he still looked at Gavin almost pleadingly. He wasn’t willing to let Nines think such hateful things about himself however and finally pressed gently on the android’s forearm, over his shirt. When Nines didn’t shove him away, Gavin let it continue down an inch at a time.

It was only once he was about to reach the plastic that Nines seized up and reformed his skin. “Hey, don’t,” Gavin whispered. “Don’t hide yourself away like that, Nines.”

“But I’m-”

“No,” Gavin interrupted gently. “I want that part of you, it’s still you. Please?”

After a seeming eternity, which in reality Gavin was adamant was maybe two minutes, Nines didn’t break eye contact as he retracted his artificial skin once again. Gavin could feel how rigid Nines was as he started moving again, and it was an almost painfully slow journey to where their hand finally met. He gently linked their fingers together, to which Nines’ eyes lit up in surprise.

“I thought the plastic would be kinda cold, but it’s as warm as my skin. Much softer than I thought too, I’m jealous of the texture,” Gavin laughed, to which Nines snorted a little. Counting it as a win, Gavin gripped ever so slightly tighter. “Guessing mine feels like sandpaper, huh? Wouldn’t be surprised with all of the callouses on there from handling guns for so long.”

Nines smiled a little and Gavin couldn’t help but feel a flash of pride in seeing that Nines wasn’t freaking out. He was handling it a lot better than Gavin feared he might. “I’ve never encountered the texture of sandpaper, but I hear it is deeply unpleasant. This is anything but,” he admitted, to which Gavin smiled more.

“Good. I know you probably won’t be okay with this all of the time, but the offer’s always there if you want it. You’re not **what** you’re made from, Nines, we’re all more than the sum of our components. Otherwise wouldn’t all humans be identical, and the same be true of androids? What makes us who we are is what lies beneath the surface, and that’s a mess in of itself.” Gavin chuckled and waited a moment for Nines to absorb that. “We’re all a mess in reality, just different degrees.”

A short laugh rose from the android and he flashed a genuine smile at Gavin. “And where do you fall on that scale, Gavin?”

“You’ve seen me enough by now to know that I’m fucked, Nines. I just embrace it and the world can take me or leave me as I am.”

Nines looked thoughtful as he absorbed Gavin’s advice and the rest of the day was spent in comfortable pseudo-silence, which Gavin was honestly quite content with.

Given how Nines looked more relaxed than he’d ever seen him, Gavin would count that as a win. He also took note of how the android didn’t let go of his hand.

* * *

As time trickled on their situation changed step-by-step. It began with Nines taking less days off work and instead ventured in for the second half of his shift if he could, which then morphed into a stream of two months without Nines missing a single scheduled day. The whole precinct noticed how the android was becoming less abrupt and instead would withdraw from a conversation if it became too much.

Next came Nines finally moving out of his apartment. The solitude was doing nothing to help with him situation and those who knew of Nines’ anxiety all offered him somewhere to stay. By that point most of the bullpen were at least partially aware, so once word got around that Nines was contemplating moving out he had no shortage choices, which they could all see moved the android beyond words.

The official line was that Nines chose Gavin because the detective was the only one who lived alone, and thus Nines wasn’t invading on an already established household. It was partially true, but the deeper truth was that Nines trusted Gavin more than any other and was the most natural choice – also, Gavin had three cats and he’d pointed out that animals were great emotional support. It was natural choice, really.

With the pair living together, however, the lines between them slowly became more and more blurred. Since that first day holding hands, Nines had discovered that he enjoyed the physical comfort of Gavin’s touch if he could tolerate it. That slowly grew from half the time, to most of it, until Nines finally admitted to Gavin one night that he was beginning to get worried that he was developing an unhealthy attachment. Chuckling, Gavin just shook his head fondly and told Nines to do a little research on reasons why he could want someone’s touch all of the time.

That night was their first kiss, though in actuality they’d been together for months in all but name.

Gavin knew that a relationship with Nines was going to perilous since it was such uncharted territory for the android, which would only heighten his anxiety. He made sure they went at Nines’ pace, not pushing for more than whatever their natural equilibrium ended up being. It was unlike anything he’d faced before with a romantic partner but he was more than prepared to be whatever Nines needed.

It was by no means plain sailing. There were often days where Gavin felt like his patience or heart was going to break when Nines withdrew completely and wouldn’t let him close, but he wasn’t ready to quit that easily. Waiting was hard, but it was always worth it to see the quiet joy in Nines’ eyes when he saw that Gavin hadn’t given up, that he was still there. Part of him wished Nines had more belief in him, but he knew a large part of that was the android’s anxiety. He trusted Gavin, but it wasn’t at that level yet.

A few months after they officially became an item, Nines finally decided to tackle to topic of sex – or more accurately, confessed that he wasn’t sure he’d ever feel up to it since he was never given any genitalia and his stress levels skyrocketed at the thought of letting anyone near him to make modifications. Gavin tried to reassure him that it wasn’t a make or break for their relationship but the point just wasn’t registering with Nines.

In the end, Gavin knew he’d have to take a leap of faith to show Nines just what he wanted out of their relationship. He just hoped that Nines’ trust in him was strong enough to not be freaked out by what it was he was suggesting.

“You…what?” Nines asked him, dumbfounded, to which Gavin held out a hand.

“Come with me to bed. I don’t want to try sex, but I want to do something else,” the detective urged but the android eyed his hand suspiciously.

“What other conclusion is there than sex when you ask me to your bed and also want me naked?” Nines accused. Gavin let his hurt show and dropped his hand.

“Ni, you know me better than that. I wouldn’t try something backhanded like this if I wanted to have sex with you, all right? For the record I do at some point if you ever feel up to trying it, but I want to do something else tonight. Please, baby. Trust me? Trust that I just want to try and help you?”

It took a solid hour before Nines decided to leave himself in Gavin’s hands, equal parts terrified and stressed as he let Gavin lead him through to the bedroom. They’d never slept in the same bed since Nines always felt too insecure there and his charging port was in the living room. To be in here together was…Nines wasn’t sure if he liked the change in their dynamic.

Once inside Gavin waited for Nines to be less skittish before he approached closer, drawing the android into a gentle hug. Nines froze for a second, snap claustrophobia striking, before he took a deep breath and wrapped his arms around Gavin. He wasn’t scared of Gavin, he knew that – or at least his conscious mind did. Subconscious though? Nines cursed his processors for refusing to give him a break.

“This is what I want, babe,” Gavin murmured in the darkened room, only the reflections from the streetlamps illuminating it. “Just you and me on the bed, like this. If you feel that you can’t do it or would rather we did this with clothes then I’m okay with that, but I want you to see that I don’t care about what you came equipped with. I want you as you are, and to know that I love it.”

Nines shook a little at the emotion in Gavin’s voice and nodded timidly. He wasn’t convinced in the slightest but he wanted to try – for Gavin. The human had been so good to him and Nines knew that he wouldn’t push too hard if Nines truly wasn’t ready.

Maybe they had been playing it a little too safe. Nines wanted to live up to whatever it was that Gavin saw in him.

After a tentative nod, Nines and Gavin parted to undress. Another time there might be the chance to peel away the layers from each other but Gavin was pretty sure that would freak Nines. Besides, that was leading towards territory that he wasn’t aiming to send them towards tonight. Once he was naked Gavin slid under the covers and flipped over the opposite side so that Nines could slide in next to him.

The not seeing, weirdly, helped. Nines was fully aware that Gavin was bare beneath the duvet but it not being visible felt like less pressure. He wasn’t prepared to fully undress right now and sat down with his underwear still present – not a necessity for androids but it was an extra layer. Just that little subconscious protection.

He laid down and brought the covers over himself before turning to look at Gavin, who had a soft smile on his face. Nines tried to reciprocate the expression and let out a slow breath as he felt Gavin reach of his hand to press soothing circles to the palm. It had become and almost safe touch for the pair of them, a check-in for if Nines wanted to continue. The minute the android pulled away whatever contact they had ended, it was an undeclared rule that they’d both come to realise. That very first intimate touch they’d ever shared was what Nines always felt safest with, so it was a good guide to go by.

A minute or so passed before Gavin gently pulled Nines a little closer, giving the android the chance to move away if he needed to. The grip on his hand didn’t shift though, even if it did shake slightly. It was once they were both settled on their sides that Gavin stopped his soft manoeuvring so that he could shuffle in front of Nines, but he could see Nines freeze when their bodies made contact. Gavin knew what caused it and chuckled self-consciously at the slight erection that has sprung to life.

“Sorry, can’t really control that when I have you this close – I’m always attracted to you, Nines,” he admitted softly but didn’t try to close the distance any more. “I’m not pushing for anything, okay? I just wanted to feel you, that’s all.”

Nines debated his next action for a few seconds before giving a small nod, wanting to trust in Gavin’s words. The detective gave him a thankful smile and at last aligned his body perfectly with Nines’, chest-to-chest in a continuous line down the length of them. He wrapped a gentle arm around Nines’ waist and began to run a tender hand down the android’s back.

It caused Nines to jump slightly but he eased into the gentle gesture faster than either of them expected. Only a minute or so later he had relaxed enough to lean his head in towards Gavin’s neck. The human smiled and pressed a loving kiss to Nines’ hair as he shifted to encompass more of the android’s back and sides.

Time was meaningless in the small bubble of safety they’d carved out – all that mattered was how Nines began to slowly ease into the tender movements. A tiny smile broke out of his face as a lone tear slipped down his cheek. When he stuttered out a broken laugh Gavin just kissed his hair more, waiting until Nines decided that he wanted to speak again.

What he didn’t expect was to see a small patch of the android’s skin melt away on his neck but that was far too inviting for Gavin to resist. He slowly moved down to peck all the way down from Nines’ head to the revealed chassis, to which Nines gasped but didn’t seize up. Definite progress.

“You can show me all of you, baby,” Gavin whispered, “if you want to. You might be afraid of you but I’m not.”

He didn’t stop his ministrations as Nines sat silently, taking the small victory of Nines being willing to do even this much. Gavin knew he’d been asking a lot of Nines tonight and he was so proud of how far the android had come. It was a surprise when the texture beneath his hands changed but Gavin didn’t shy away from it. All that altered was he shifted his pattern to run along the seams of Nines’ plating instead.

Nines let out a wounded sound when Gavin didn’t shy away and pulled back to look at his detective. At Gavin’s tender smile Nines closed his eyes and let the rest of his synthskin peel away. Before the human could get any words out Nines’ could feel the tiny twitch of interest that Gavin’s still half-hard cock made. It was a confidence boosting reaction as Nines knew it was subconscious, which meant it was that much easier to open his eyes again to look at Gavin.

“What’s so scary about you, huh?” Gavin laughed softly, stretching forward to press his forehead to Nines’. “All I see is you, baby. Just you.”

More tears streamed from Nines’ eyes as he kissed Gavin desperately, all of his emotions spilling over. They continued to kiss long into the night, Gavin’s hands never stilling as he ran all across Nines’ body – his back, arms, chest, neck, head…even after Nines braved removing the last barrier between them Gavin never even thought to move their moment to something sexual, which meant the world to Nines.

Part of him wondered as to what it might have entailed, but the larger part of him knew he wasn’t ready. Finally feeling secure enough in himself Nines attempted stasis at last: in his detective’s arms, he didn’t fear it anymore.

He trusted Gavin would keep them both safe, would be with him every step of the way as they worked towards helping Nines finally find peace within himself.

To someone who feared the world, having that unconditional love and support was the greatest gift he could ever hope for.

**Author's Note:**

> If you want to see my big news, have a look on my [Twitter](https://twitter.com/SkyeWillows) and [Tumblr](https://skyewillows.tumblr.com) to see the new writing website that I'm uploading to with some immensely talented authors!
> 
> See you all next time!


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